A Medieval Woman’s Mirror of Honor
The Treasury of the City of Ladies
Christine de Pizan

Translated, with an introduction by Charity Cannon Willard and edited, with an introduction by Madeleine Pelner Cosman

This fifteenth-century instruction book—the first written by a woman for women—offers a firsthand glimpse into how medieval women actually lived. Conceived as a companion to her history of women, The Book of the City of Ladies, Christine de Pizan wrote A Medieval Woman's Mirror of Honor to offer practical advice on how to live an honorable, “noble” life and thus to qualify for entry into her allegorical, utopian City. 

Just as Christine de Pizan intended in 1405 when this book was written, A Medieval Woman's Mirror of Honor charms and entertains as it enlightens. For the modern reader, it provides a unique view into the medieval world, the history of women, and the social as well as intellectual history of the period. 

Christine de Pizan (1364-1429?) was France’s first professional woman of letters. She wrote more than twenty distinguished works, most concerning the political life of France or the defense of women. Her Book of the City of Ladies has attained the stature of a world classic.  

Paperback / $11.95 (Can $17.50) / ISBN 978-0-89255-135-4 / 266 pages / Fiction